~ ~ ~
Jace stared down at the dead demon and back at his sobbing girlfriend and smiled. “You hit something this time, Linds.”
“What was that thing?” she managed as she threw down the gun and backed away from the body of Cameron that lay dead and unmoving.
“It was a demon. They can take any form they choose. It followed me here,” he explained and regarded her sorrowfully. “I’m sorry Lindsay. I thought the door was shut behind me. One must have gotten through and Daphne didn’t know it.”
“These things are down there with you in that place?” she asked in fear and she looked like she was ready to fall apart.
Jace grinned and shrugged. “They’re like pests, mostly, but dangerous if they get their hands on one of us. They steal souls. This one actually had to kill you before it could take yours. It was more of a threat to me because I’m already dead.”
“I don’t get it and I don’t want to,” she replied and stared at Cameron’s lifeless form, thinking about all of this with a shake of her head. She knew she was hysterical as she got up off the ground and stared at Cameron’s eyes, now blue once more, staring up at the sky. “What does this mean for Cameron?”
Jace brooded that and avoided her gaze. “I hope he’s in Hell where he belongs.”
“You don’t know?” she asked.
He glared at her defensively then. “Lindsay, I haven’t been down there that long. I don’t know everything there is to know. Merrick isn’t here to ask.”
“Is…is…it dead?” she asked hesitantly as she stepped away from the corpse.
“Yeah, he’s dead, babe, you shot him five times,” Jace said proudly and shook his head. “Now if I could teach Daphne to shoot like that she could go out on patrols with us.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” she said weakly and went down on her knees in the grass and started vomiting. It was then that Sheriff Wilson crashed through the woods with his gun drawn, seeing Lindsay and the fallen Cameron, he relaxed.
“You ok, Lindsay?” he asked as he kept his gun drawn and looked around, finally going and checking Cameron’s pulse, confirming he was dead. He picked up Lindsay’s gun and put it in his coat pocket.
“Yeah, I’m ok,” she said and started to cry, looking at Jace and wishing he could hold her. “I didn’t get the confession, Sheriff. He grabbed me and dragged me here. I’m sorry.”
Gary looked at her as he came over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as he drew her away from the sight, letting her lean on him.
“The microphone quit working. That’s why I ran down here. I got to the party and found out I was watching Matt the whole time, and not Cam.”
“He knew you’d be watching him,” she said and bit her lip. “Dooley told him I was working for you. He’s been telling them everything from the start.”
“It’s okay, he’s back to being a deputy if he even has a job.”
Gary guided Lindsay away from the clearing. Jace walked with them, eyeing his girlfriend in concern.
“You’re gonna be alright, Lindsay,” Jace told her, his brown eyes trained on her pale features. “It doesn’t matter to me if he didn’t confess.”
“What happens now, Sheriff?” Lindsay wanted to know, her eyes on Jace. “Are you going to arrest Matt for Jace’s murder?”
Sheriff Wilson smiled with little humor. “If your source is right and his DNA is a match; we got our killer. He’ll confess to Cameron’s part in this. I’d say the case is solved. Did he tell you why he did it, Lindsay?”
She looked at Jace and could see he was troubled by that too. They didn’t know beyond the thrill why the pair decided to kill Jace. The unanswered question still bothered Jace. She could tell by his expression.
“No, he didn’t say anything to me. I guess we’ll never know.”
“Lindsay, I took the gun. This whole thing never happened, do you hear? That’s the way it’s gonna stay.”
“What do you mean?” she asked and looked up at the Sheriff in alarm. “He tried to kill me! I want everybody in the town to know that.”
He sighed and looked down at her as they walked through the woods. “Lindsay, I got nothing on that tape to back you up. You got an unregistered gun too. It’s your word against a dead body. Forget about it. This’ll be blamed on the drug dealers he owes money too. I’m sorry, but this stays between us. I got reasonable cause to arrest Lauder. He’ll implicate Cameron. It’s done.”
Lindsay saw Jace nod in agreement and appeared angry that she couldn’t expose Cameron’s attacking her, but at least it was over. She shivered but not from the cold, recalling those black eyes filled with evil, thinking of Jace dealing with those creatures everyday where he was. Tomorrow he would go back there to fight more of them.
Jace was quiet when they returned to the party. Sheriff Wilson left them there and went back up to his car to call Bob to come in and arrest Matt. Lindsay and Jace kept an eye on Matt who still stood at the edge of the woods thinking the sheriff was still on the hill watching him.
Jace grinned to see Artie and Sal and the others moving towards Matt.
“This should be good,” he said as he pointed. “Keep your eyes on our buddy Matt.”
Lindsay frowned. “What’s going on? I thought you weren’t going to risk salvation for any of you?”
“They’re not going to kill him; just rough him up a little.”
Lindsay smiled and watched Matt suddenly fly backward into a tree trunk, pinned there and jerking around as he was pummeled by an unseen force.
“It doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere until Bob gets here. I’m so glad this is over, Jace. We did it. Everybody will know the truth now about what they did to you.”
Jace shrugged. “I don’t care about any of that anymore, Lindsay. I realized it didn’t mean as much to me as you and my family when it comes right down to it.”
“When are you leaving tomorrow?” she asked with a lump in her throat, trying not to cry.
“First thing in the morning,” he said and his hand slid through hers, waving and linking within hers. “I did what I came to do, Lindsay. I have to go back. You have to go on with your life now.”
Lindsay looked up at him and tears filled her gaze. “I’m never going to love anybody like I do you, Jace. Don’t ask me to.”
He leaned down and his ghostly lips slid against hers, making her feel a cool sensation. He drew away and regarded her with love in his gaze.
“I’m never going to love anybody like that either, Lindsay,” he promised and watched as Sal and Artie and the others tormented Matt, smiling slightly.
They stood watching Matt fighting against his invisible assailants as the deputy sheriff finally arrived, lights flashing. Kids took off running in every direction then. Cars took off quickly as the party ended abruptly.
Jace and Lindsay watched Gary Wilson’s car pull in as a fleet of teenagers left The Point. He was speaking with Bob and the pair started walking towards Lindsay. Jace grinned as he saw Matt was now shrieking and going down on his knees, looking like a nut as he fought off the ghosts.
Bob and the Sheriff led him away sobbing. The deputy put him in the back of the SUV and left. Gary approached her and they stood at the bonfire, watching it burn.
“They’ll be out here searching for Cameron come morning. I put a bug in Dan’s ear a couple month’s back. He’ll think this was the work of the drug dealers. You got nothing to worry about, Lindsay,” he was telling her to alleviate her worry.
“I know, Sheriff,” she said as she looked up at Jace, a soft smile curving her lips. “I’m not worried about anything anymore.”
Jace walked her to the truck, and he leaned inside the window, smiling at her in a way that nailed him as the cutest boy in the world, hands down. She felt a pang of sadness knowing he would leave tomorrow.
Tonight they would spend those last moments together. He reached out and his hand touched her cheek, making her shiver.
“I’ll be there in
a little while. The Newbies all need a pep talk before we leave in the morning,” he told her. “We have to get our story together for Raymond.”
“Don’t take forever,” she warned and smiled. “I want to enjoy every minute until you leave.”
Jace looked at her and smiled. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Oblivion Page 70
